New Orleans Hornets point guards adjust to ever-changing roster

There have been times this season when Hornets point guard Greivis Vasquez has to pause momentarily and wrap his head around just who is on the floor with him. Most recently, it happened Friday night in Denver when newly signed center Jeff Foote was part of the rotation while Vasquez was running the show, causing Vasquez to change the play he wanted to call because Foote hadn’t yet learned its components.

Rusty Costanza / The Times-PicayunePoint guard Greivis Vasquez says the hardships experienced by the Hornets have made this season a 'learning process. This whole year has been ups and downs.'

“I was thinking about that,” Vasquez said, “watching the tape and watching myself ... it’s been extremely hard. Sometimes, you can call a play, and we’ve just got a new guy, and being a young guy, you’ve got to figure it out quick. It’s not easy. This whole year has been ups and downs. It’s definitely a learning process. It’s hard. Especially for me.”

The Hornets have used 15 starting lineups this season heading into tonight’s game against the Charlotte Bobcats at the New Orleans Arena, with 10 players having missed time because of injury, and four more — including Foote — who have been on the roster via 10-day contracts.

As a point guard, it is the job of Vasquez and starter Jarrett Jack to run the Hornets’ offense, keeping players in the right spots and directing the action on the floor, optimally, without turning the ball over.

Through Sunday night’s win against Minnesota, Jack had turned the ball over 81 times, Vasquez 80. And, not unexpectedly, many of those mistakes can be attributed to the patch-work lineups the Hornets have been forced to utilize.

Jack, who save for a stretch of a week when he returned from a sore knee and played behind Vasquez with the second unit, has been the beneficiary of a little bit more stability playing most of his minutes with starters or players who were more familiar with the Hornets’ schemes and tendencies.

“Actually, it’s not that big a deal,” Jack said. “You just try to keep the play-calling packages simple where everybody knows how to play. Most of the people I’m pretty familiar with them regardless of whether they played with me or not. You’ve seen them play in passing, or watched games they played in college. You get familiar with most everybody’s game.

“But you try to put them in positions where they’ll be successful. The biggest thing is trying to call a play where (a teammate) will be able to react. If you call a play, you don’t want to make it too complicated if a person has only been here for two days or whatever the case may be. You don’t want to put him a position where that possession gets wasted because you call a play that was too complicated or one he hasn’t gotten down pat yet.”

Matthew Hinton / The Times-PicayuneVeteran and starter Jarrett Jack had les trouble making adjustments to the ever-changing roster. 'Actually, it's not that big a deal.'

Hornets Coach Monty Williams sees the conundrum from both perspectives, offensively and defensively. There are defensive sets he’d like to call, but cannot because of newcomers’ unfamiliarity with the system.

“I’m putting guys in position who have never been in our defensive system,” Williams said. “(Friday) night was indicative of that. I was ready to call a play, and I looked out there and saw Jeff Foote and it was like, ‘I can’t call that. I can only call about three plays because that’s all he knows.’

“When you have this many new guys in your system, you’re going to have breakdowns, and that’s something we have to guard against.”

What has made it doubly difficult for Jack and Vasquez, Williams says, is the Hornets’ lack of weapons.

“I think it’s tough on them, because the best point guards in the league are throwing it to guys who can score every night,” Williams said. “Let’s just be honest. The guys who have the most assists are throwing it to the same guys every night. And they know they can count on four or five assists from that guy every night. We don’t have that.

“Playing the point guard position, you have to have balance. You have to be able to know when to shoot, know when to pass, run the team, keep your poise. We haven’t been inconsistent there, but I think there’s times where the warts show in tough situations. It’s been tough for our point guards because they’ve had to carry the load scoring and running the team.”

Vasquez, though, is a glass-half-full type of player. He has taken this opportunity and continues to try to improve.

“The rest of the season,” he said, “I’m going to try to get 10 assists a game. Whether I score 10 points, four points, I don’t care. I just care about getting people better around me. I think that will make me a better point guard when we have an established roster on this team.”